The D.H. 104 Dove was meant to be de Havilland’s successor of the famous  ”Dragon Rapide”. The new design fulfilled the specification 26/46 of the Brabrazon committee for a small transport aircraft intended for the U.K. and the Commonwealth. The first prototype flew in September 1945 during the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of de Havilland Company.  

The ”Dove” was manufactured in several variants, most of them for the civilian market. The military version, Dove 4, was also named ”Devon” which was provided to RAF, Royal Navy and several foreign air forces. One Devon was bought by the Swedish Air Force and delivered in 1947. As Sweden purchased several hundred of de Havilland Vampire fighters at the same time, the price for the Devon was very favourable.  

The Swedish designation of the new transport aircraft became Tp 46 and got the RSwAF/n 46001 (builders C/n 04076). The aircraft was powered by two air cooled Gipsy Queen 70 in-line engines with six cylinders. Each engine developed 360 hp. In addition of its flight crew of two, seven passengers could be carried. 

The Tp 46 served at several Air Force Wings. In 1947, it was based at F 11 at Nyköping as a liaison aircraft. In 1955 it was transferred to F 9 at Säve near Gothenburg. After only about one years service, it was re-based to F 8 at Barkaby - near Stockholm and the staff of the Air Force. The Tp 46 was used for light material transports and for VIP-transports. From 1960, it served for seven years at F 21 in the north. In 1967, it was written off and sold to the civilian market.   

© Lars Henriksson

Updated 2010-07-15